Equation Solving Podcast

James Bond

Mission: Solving Equations

Virtual Manipulatives

      In this podcast James Bond must solve an equation to save Miss Rani. Although it is a little cheesy, the use of the balance scale is very well done. This would be a great introduction to solving equations. I would have students watch this and then work through several equations. There are many online interactive equation balance scales that students can practice their equation solving skills on. Once students are comfortable with solving equations it might be interesting to have them create their own podcasts to share with other students.

ePals

        There are so many great ways that ePals can be used. Both schoolmail and global community are free resources. With these free resources students can communicate with students throughout the world about various topics. With ePals all communications are monitored by the teacher that not only ensures appropriate content, but also allows the teacher to ask a student to redo their letter. Teachers can also communicate with one another in this global community.
       Also on the ePals site are learning spaces and in2books, which are not free. Although they are not free they look like they may be worth the investment. With in2books students can communicate with a mentor about various books they choose to read. This communication allows students to find meaning in what they are reading and also discuss the important aspects of the book. Learning spaces offers a whole array of work-spaces for teachers, students, and parents. Through their dashboard, teachers can manage all their collaborations. Teachers can collaborate with other teachers for lessons, tests and much more. Learning spaces also allows teachers to set up blogs, wikis, forums and more for their students to participate in. With this teachers of various schools can join together their classroom on projects or communications. ePals is full of opportunities for teachers and students to collaborate, communicate, and learn.
       With our upcoming unit on my mind, I can see using ePals when talking about currency conversions and better buys. Students could apply their knowledge of currency conversion to communicate with students in other parts of the world and discuss the cost of their most desired items. They can also compare the prices and see if prices vary depending on where you are. Similarly, students could use measurement conversion to share their favorite recipes with their pen pals. I think ePals could be an exciting way to get students interested in a rather tough topic.

Applying Flickr

Big Huge Labs is a site where you can apply your Flickr photos to create puzzles, posters, magazine covers and much more. 

Math is Everywhere--

This is a movie poster I created about the Fibonacci sequence. I think that this would be an excellent project idea. Students could take pictures of places they see math in order to advertise that math is present in our everyday lives. Not only could students advertise real-world mathematics, but they could also advertise famous mathematicians and their contributions to mathematics.  In both cases the posters could be accompanied with  a brief description of their poster's connection to mathematics. This is a creative way for students to express their mathematical knowledge or research.

Licensing your Flickr Account

Photograph by: Yodel Anecdotal

Once you have a Flickr account you may choose to publish your work. When publishing there are 4 main conditions that can be combined to create 6 Creative Commons licenses that you may choose from ranging from accommodating to more restrictive.

Conditions

Attribution
by

"You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work — and derivative works based upon it — but only if they give credit the way you request."

 

Share Alike 

sa

"You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work."

Non-Commercial
nc

"You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work — and derivative works based upon it — but for non-commercial purposes only."

No Derivative Works
nd

"You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it."

  

Courtesy of: Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licenses

 

 Attribution

 cc by

This is the least restrictive of the licenses. By applying this license to your work you are allowing people to reproduce and build upon your work on their websites, twitter accounts, and in other commercial uses as long as credit is given for the original work. 

 Attribution Share Alike

 cc by-sa

Like the previous license, people may reproduce and build upon your work as long as they credit you and license their creations under the identical terms.  This license is more restrictive than the previous because all creations based off your work must be license the exact same way.

                        

 

Attribution No Derivatives

 cc by-nd

Unlike the previous two licenses applying this license to your work allows only for the redistribution of your work with credit given. Under this license no changes can be made to your work.

Attribution Non-Commercial

 cc by-nc

This license is similar to the first license in that people can distribute and build upon your work, however it can not be distributed for commercial use. Credit must be given, but the license does not have to be the same. 

Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 

 cc by-nc-sa

This license is exactly like the attribution non-commercial license, however any new creations must be licensed the same as the original creation.

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

 cc by-nc-nd

This is the most restrictive license. People may redistribute your work as long as credit is given. However, they can not use the work commercially or adapt it.

Information Courtesy of: Creative Commons

Why Tweet?

Nine Great Reasons Why Teachers Should Use Twitter

 This article sums up with just nine reasons why educators should tweet. This first point of this article says "together we're better",  twitter is an excellent way to collaborate with other educators. We grow and improve from conversations with other educators and twitter allows educators to communicate on their own time. With twitter educators can quickly access ideas, opinion, and resources. Twitter also expands your community to a global community of educators, not just those in your school or county. Twitter opens up the education world to more then education magazines and conferences, to individuals' ideas and opinions. It lets the everyday teacher share their ideas and tips with teachers just like them. Twitter is a powerful tool!

Check our why so many people love twitter... 

I <3 Twitter 

Then try it and maybe you too, will say I <3 Twitter!

Interesting!

Embed a YouTube Video into PowerPoint 

TILT- Teachers Improving Learning with Technology

This site has many great technology tips for teachers. I like the tip about embedding a YouTube video into a PowerPoint. I think this is very useful since many schools block YouTube. If  I want to show a Youtube video in my classroom I can not because YouTube is blocked. However, by embedding the YouTube video into a PowerPoint instead of a link I can use the video in my classroom. Embedding the video allows me to view the video without being redirected out to the internet. This will allow me show the videos in my classroom!

Social Network

Classroom 2.0

This social networking group is a current group that is still active. It has many users, which can be helpful for developing a community. With such a large user base there is  someone in the group who can be a resource. There are also many open discussions on this site that are actively being added to. This was the only open network that I came across that had discussions on mathematics. Therefore, I could add to these math discussions and create my own.